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September 09, 2004 The nonstory story I want to deal with one portion of the "new" Bush AWOL nonsense. The new commercial by Texans for Truth, to be aired on $110,000 worth of television time in battleground-state cities such as Harrisburg, Pa., and Columbus, Ohio, shows Bob Mintz, who served as a lieutenant in the Alabama Air National Guard at the same time Bush was supposed to be serving, speaking to the camera: Really? So you were always there? According to FactCheck.org, the answer is a resounding "no". In a telephone conference call with reporters, however, Mintz conceded that he is not certain whether he himself was present on the dates when pay records show Bush being paid for drill attendance, and he volunteered that he can't say that Bush failed to meet his military obligations: Well gee, Mr. Mintz of "Texans for the Truth" .... why not try telling the truth then? Talk about selling your soul for your 15 mintues of fame. Mintz conceded during the telephone conference that he wasn't sure if he himself had been at the base on the specific dates Bush was paid in October and November, and said it was possible that Bush performed office work at the base without his knowing it. A total non-story.
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was Mintz or any of the Texans for Truth on the same fighter plane as W? If not, they are automatically disqualified from comment, and are all liars.
Posted by: Mr. K at September 9, 2004 11:33 AM
Yes - total non-story. Just keep talking.
Of course, given the size of their unit, the odds of Mintz and Bush missing each other completely are about a thousand to one. All Mintz is saying is that he cannot say with certainty that he was at the base on certain days 32 years ago.
That's the best you got? As Mintz also explained, the flyboys were a tight unit. Yes, it's possible Bush just happened to be there on the days Mintz was not there. But where are all the other people who would have seen him?
And when do we get to see the unit records?
Finally, and this is the bigger story, it turns out the White House had copies of the Killian memos:
"After the [60 Minutes] broadcast, the White House, without comment, released to the news media two of the memos, one ordering Bush to report for his physical exam and the other suspending him from flight status."
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/08/bush.national.ap/index.html
Remember back in February when the White House said they had released ALL the records? Well, they lied. THEY ARE LIARS. They had the Killian memos and did not release them.
But I do agree with your main assertion: the fact that the White House lies is a non-story.
Posted by: mkultra at September 9, 2004 11:39 AM
Yep, Mkultra, you are right. Kerry is a damn liar. He said he released all his records but so far only 6 out of 100 have been released to the outside world. Let's see them records.
As to Bush's records? They said they released all the ones they found. That was never all the records. Well, a lawsuit found other records in other repositories. I am sure you could search for years and find still others. Those misfiled, mislabelled or plain rotted away, etc.
Since Bush isn't running on his Vietnam record and Kerry is, why is Bush on the hook to release records and Kerry isn't. Those 94 pages of records, and med docs are not missing. The kerry campaign said they had them. The kerry people just won't release them.
So what would you rather do? Spend thousands of manyears looking for docs or thousands of man years looking for people behind Beslan. Well, I know the answer, both you and Moore think that there isn't a terrorist threat. Yeah, looking for lost docs about something that everyone agrees is not even a crime is real important. You, mister, have SLOPS (serious loss of perspective syndrome). Just like the rest of your lefties hordes.
yikes.
Posted by: capt joe at September 9, 2004 12:34 PM
mkultra was unable to read...
Mintz: I can't say that he didn't do his duties, but I can say for sure that I was there and I never met George Bush.
When I was a platoon leader, company commander, and staff officer, I damned well was able to tell if someone performed their duties or not. (My experience was active duty Army rather than National Guard Airforce. Maybe it's a lot different there.)
Posted by: Mark at September 9, 2004 12:34 PM
Bit much with the Liar word, but it's a word you are selectively comfortable with, so I'm not surprised. However - the memos in question only confirm what we already knew:
1) He was ordered to take a physical - standard procedure for a pilot.
2) He didn't take it and he was removed from flight status.
Which one of those two memos points to something we didn't already know?
Posted by: looker at September 9, 2004 12:36 PM
That's the best you got? As Mintz also explained, the flyboys were a tight unit.
Except Bush wasn't flying in Alabama, you nitwit. The Alabama unit had planes Bush wasn't qualified to fly. So there's absolutely no reason he'd hang out with the pilots, he was busy with other work.
Posted by: Steverino at September 9, 2004 12:41 PM
mkultra selectively forgets facts that don't jive with his talking points.
Posted by: capt joe at September 9, 2004 12:44 PM
Mark, its decidedly different in the reserves. The unit I was with, for instance, had three different sections so it drilled three weekends a month. While I was in the same unit as them, I couldn't vouch for anyone in the other two sections in terms of whether they'd drilled or not. And, since we had about 400 in each section, other than my own team, I couldn't really vouch for whether those in my section attended drill unless there was something which happened during the drill period which made them stand out in my mind.
We also had many who were not a part of the unit but showed up to drill for points only (usually IRR folks). I couldn't tell you who a single one of them were today, but I know that those types of folks often drilled with us.
Posted by: McQ at September 9, 2004 12:47 PM
Simply amazing... the day after the big bad bash Bush media blitz day, it all falls apart so simply. Mintz can't remember if he was even there on days Bush was there? The Dems can't even do negative right. Meanwhile there's a bone fide Navy investigation into Kerry's medals and documentaed proof that he lied about his own whereabouts (Cambodia) during his service and lied about his comrades. Where's the MSM?
It's not good enough for me to cancel my newspaper subscription, but I don't know what else I can do. How was the MSM allowed to get this Orwellian?
Posted by: pdq332 at September 9, 2004 12:49 PM
The AP "boo" report gives you about all the insight you need. What Liberal Media?
Yep, no bias there at all.
Imagine FOX claiming that Kerry's people applauded when they heard about Clinton having a heart attack - we'd STILL be hearing about that, there'd be an investigation, firings, Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich, Paul Krugman, et al would be foaming at the mouth over it.
I picked FOX because that's the designated "evil right wing controlled" network.
Posted by: looker at September 9, 2004 01:25 PM